Shareholders in Capital Shopping Centres (CSC) have registered a heavy protest against what they view as excessive executive pay at the property company, which holds big stakes in malls including Manchester's Trafford Centre and the Metrocentre in Gateshead.

Nearly 30% voted against the remuneration report at the company's annual meeting – the second year in a row shareholders have used the event to vent their anger. Before the meeting, corporate governance watchdog Pirc had urged investors to oppose the report.

For the second year running, payouts included share option awards worth more than 200% of salary for chief executive David Fischel. The company justified the awards by insisting Fischel's performance had been "exceptional".

But the protest vote, however, was not as emphatic as last year's, when just over 40% of voting shares were cast against the company's boardroom pay policy. Last year, according to Pirc, the average vote against executive pay arrangements deals was about 6%, and fewer than 10% of companies faced protest votes of more than 20%.

The clear message from the meeting – that almost a third of investors remain unhappy – was in marked contrast to claims from the company that it had put disagreements with shareholders over executive pay behind it.

In February, the chairman of CSC's remuneration committee, Neil Sachdev, told investors: "Last year, shareholders expressed two concerns: firstly, that exceptional option awards had been made two years in a row, and secondly [in relation to] option performance targets ... Both concerns have been addressed."

In an effort to appease angry investors, Sachdev has now promised to carry out "a root and branch review of remuneration policy", focusing on areas including "providing value for shareholders by rewarding executives primarily for results" and "aligning [rewards] with best practice".

In February, a deal by CSC to buy land from its biggest investor also met with shareholder opposition, with more than a third failing to back the acquisition of a development plot in Spain from CSC deputy chairman John Whittaker's Peel Group.

At that time the Association of British Insurers and Pirc had issued warnings about the transaction, questioning the corporate governance of buying land from a shareholder and the lack of an independent valuation on the land.